2128 standardised face to face in-depth interviews were carried out by 28 psychologists in Austria. 852 accidents were reported (involving material damage and/or personal injury). The main contributory factor to the cause of these accidents was inattentiveness (36%). The main reason for being inattentive was thinking about other things while driving. 14% of all accidents were primarily caused by driving too fast for the specific situation. The main reason for driving too fast was stress, followed by a lack of critical thinking about the speed at that moment in time. Aggressive emotions, risk-taking behaviour etc. did not play a major role. Another 14% of all accidents were primarily caused by inexperience in such specific situations. This factor was found significantly more frequently amongst young drivers. 10% of all accidents were due to lack of proper safety margins to the vehicle in front – also mainly because of stress and lack of critical thinking. Lack of skill caused 7% of all accidents, fatigue was in 5% of all accidents the main contributory factor; alcohol and other reasons were responsible for a further 5%. The remaining risk of 9% were external factors which occurred suddenly and unexpectedly. Generally speaking, 42% of accidents were primarily caused by emotional states where the driver was not in balance within himself, e.g. stress, sorrow, having problems to solve, etc. It was observed that the accident risk of novice drivers declines continuously from the beginning of the driving career over the first 36 months. The risk of having an accident causing personal injury was 12 times higher for young car drivers, 3 times higher for older drivers (early 80s) and 11 times higher for even older drivers (late 80s), when compared to the average age group. These results were gathered from two separate data sources: first, 1000 telephone interviews based on annual kilometres driven and, second, the official road accident statistics for Austria in 2005 concerning personal injuries, as well as the statistics on the distribution of the Austrian population per age group. The majority of drivers (57%) favours the present speed limit of 130 km/h on Austrian motorways, women more than men. Priority for pedestrians at pedestrian / zebra crossings is favoured by 86% of car drivers. An automatic gear shift is only favoured by 20% of drivers. Women get upset by cars following them too closely, men rather because of cars driving too slowly in front. The two most favoured car colours are black and silver/grey. There are indications that the chance of causing an accident is higher for light red and black cars. Further correlations to accidents were not found. Accidents correlate positively with kilometres driven. Women show a higher accident risk per kilometres driven (they drive less on average). But men are significantly more responsible for the serious accidents. Makes of cars are clearly associated with brand images. Alfa Romeo is associated with passion and being different, BMW with power, Jaguar with being rich, Mercedes with calmness in the sense of being relaxed, Audi with almost belonging to the establishment and Volkswagen with social-minded attitudes. (Author/publisher)
Abstract